hello, thank you for joining us, i'm jc hayward. during closed hearings on capitol hill this morning, lawmakers grilled the former head of the cia about the terror attack in benghazi. as danielle nottingham reports,

the sex scandal that forced general david petraeus to step down only came up once. >>reporter: former cia director david petraeus made his first public appearance since a sex scandal forced him to resign last week. he testified before congress about the terror attack in benghazi that took the lives of u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three others. behind closed doors, petraeus told lawmakers he believed all along terrorists attacked the u.s. consulate in libya, but petraeus did not answer a key question, who in the obama administration pinned the attack on demonstrators. >> he said it went through a long process, involving many agencies, department of justice, state department and no one knows yet exactly who come up with the final version of the talking points. >>reporter: five days after the attack, u.n. ambassador susan rice was still blaming a spontaneous demonstration outside the consulate. the obama administration now acknowledges al-qaida was behind the september 11th

attack. >> the investigation tells us what you get from the ground, it evolves. when you get intelligence, you get intelligence, you collect it, you give it over to analysts, analysts review it and they send it out and it kept evolving over the process. >>reporter: reporters who were staked out for the general's arrival, but he used underground hallways to make his way to the hearing room. petraeus stepped down last week after acknowledging it had an extra-marital affair with his biography paula broadwell. he did not comment on the affair during his testimony to lawmakers, but he insisted it did not have any impact on his testimony. danielle nottingham, cbs news, washington. top national security officials were on capitol hill this week to deal with the fallout from the petraeus sex scandal. defense secretary leon panetta has ordered a review of ethics training for military officers. we're following news of an oil rig explosion in the gulf of mexico. the u.s. coast guard says at least two people were killed and two others are missing.

four people were rushed to the hospital. this happened off the coast of louisiana just a short while ago. the explosion comes a day after bp oil agreed to pay $4.5 billion for the deepwater horizon oil rig disaster that occurred 2 1/2 years ago. well, the missing child that sparked an amber alert this morning has been found. 18-month-old alexis rose carwile and her mother, jennifer, were found around 6:30 in atlanta, maryland. both are safe. the father, eric eugene black was taken into custody earlier this morning. the alert was triggered last night from halifax county, virginia. a surprise verdict declared in the buoy state murder trial. alexis simpson, the young woman accused of stabbing her college roommate, dominique fraser to death was found not guilty on all seven counts yesterday. simpson sobbed when the verdict

was read. outside her friends and family rejoiced. simpson said she was bullied by fraser and was defending herself. the jury took about three hours to deliver the not guilty verdict. rockets and shells have been criss crossing the skies over israel and gaza, causing death and destruction. massive airstrikes on gaza were reported earlier this morning. israel says that more than 1400 rockets were fired from gaza since wednesday. the country's defense forces reportedly intercepted more than 100 missiles before they could hit their targets. >> i hope that hamas and the other terror organizations in gaza got the message. if not, israel is prepared to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people. >> both israelis and palestinians report innocent women and children have been killed on both sides. egypt's prime minister arrived

in the gaza strip this morning to meet with palestinian officials about the attacks. president obama is in budget negotiations with top members of congress. democrats and republicans say they will work together in order to get a deal done. if they don't, the u.s. economy could fall off the fiscal cliff. tara mergener has more. >>reporter: president barack obama sat down with congressional leaders as democrats as republicans look for a way to avoid the fiscal cliff. if the two sides don't reach a budget deal before the end of the year, automatic spending cuts and tax hikes will kick in and possibly throw the economy back into a recession. >> so our challenge is to make sure that we are able to cooperate together, work together, find some common ground. >>reporter: the president is promising $4.4 trillion in budget cuts over the next 10 years. he also wants $1.6 trillion in new revenue, including higher taxes on families making more

than $250,000 a year. >> a modest tax increase on the wealthy is not going to break their backs. >>reporter: but republicans say they will not agree to a deal that includes tax hikes. >> an opening bid of $1.6 trillion in new taxes just isn't serious. >>reporter: but one possible solution might include a plan that mitt romney proposed during the presidential campaign. the republican nominee wanted to cap the amount of tax deductions americans can take on items like mortgage interest. house speaker john boehner has shown interest in the plan which would raise more tax revenue without raising rates. >> it's clear that there are a lot of special interest loopholes in the tax code, both corporate and personal. >>reporter: democrats and republicans say they will reach an agreement, but a new poll shows many americans are skeptical. 51% of those surveyed believe a deal will not get done. tara mergener for cbs news, capitol hill. it appears that the makers

of twinkies and hohos couldn't avoid their fiscal cliff. hostess brand says a national bakers' strike has crippled their operations at 33 plants. so more than 18,000 workers will lose their jobs. the company warned employees that it would sell off its assets if workers did not return to work by last night. the company will sell off its twinkies and wonder bread brands. still to come when 9 news now continues, we're going to talk live to dr. phil. we're going to talk about his new book and what's coming up on his show today. you can watch it right here beginning at 4:00 p.m. but, first, a lot of people got ill from food-borne illnesses. they do that every time this year. so coming up next we're going to have some food safety tips for you that really could make a difference between having a happy holiday and a disaster.

i love thanksgiving because that's when you eat lots of food. but let me tell you that sometimes people become ill from the thanksgiving meal, and we'll tell you why in just a moment. i have c.c. williamson. she is a food safety expert with the usda meat and poultry hotline. and she says food-borne illnesses occur a lot of times from the dressing. >> that's true. in fact, if you're sitting around your thanksgiving table and you have seven other people there, you might want to think that one of those people is going to get sick from a food- borne illness during the year because 48 million people get a food-borne illness in the u.s. >> what is it that we need to keep in mind, what's the most important thing? >> well, there's a lot of different things we need to keep in mind. first of all, a turkey is just a big chicken. i mean, people get really

afraid of it. in fact, one lady was so afraid of the bacteria that could be in a chicken that she took a brillo pad -- >> oh, please. >> and she scrubbed the inside of the cavity. of course, she called and we had to say that was contaminating. this is the weapon that you need for combating bacteria is a food thermometer and there's lots of different kinds. >> to make sure your turkey is cut before you cut. >> that's right. >> the dressing, though, that's the main thing. you know what? i went to a friend's house for thanksgiving and i did become ill and it was from the dressing. >> uh-huh. >> i mean, really ill. i had to go to the hospital, food poisoning. >> and 3,000 people die a year from food-borne illness too and from people at risk, you know, young children, older adults, pregnant women. so it really is something that you need to consider. >> we have 30 seconds and you're going to make this dressing. we have the finished product here. but what are the things we

should keep in mind? >> well, if you got cooked ingredients in your stuffing, you need to precook them. but if you're not going to cook the stuffing until thanksgiving morning or afternoon, you don't combine the wet and the dry ingredients until you're ready to either put it in the oven or in the turkey, that's right. >> that's very important. you go ahead. >> our microbiologists say that broth is an excellent medium for growing bacteria. so if you combine the broth and the bread and everything and you don't cook it, you can have bacteria growing. >> i'm coming over to your house. the dressing is delicious. so remember those tips that c.c. has given us. i hope you have a happy thanksgiving. >> well, thank you. >> and the dressing is delicious. >> and we're going to take a break and when we come back, howard is going to have our weekend forecast. c.c., thank you. >> jc starting out this weekend on a nice note. the sun is out and it's pretty

comfortable. kind of more of what you see is what you get. here's a quick look at temps before we go to break. they're hovering in the upper 40s and already the low 50s. the seven-day forecast when 9 news now returns.

i love watching "dr. phil" everyday here on wusa9. guess what. he has a new book, it is called "life code: the new rules for winning in the real world" by dr. phil mcgraw. the book will help you better

understand how the real worl works. and so joining us now live from new york is dr. phil. tell me, what inspired you to write this book? >> well, it's good to talk to you again. >> why did you write the book? >> you are right, this was an inspired writing pause i didn't intend to write a book. i sat down because something had happened in my life and i thought, you know what, from time to time i get people coming at me and my family, trying to exploit us, trying to use us, trying to abuse us. that happened. and i thought you know what? i'm going to look at the pattern and see if there's a consistency here of who it is that comes after us, are there commonalities among these people and are there commonalities among what they do, and i was overwhelmed when i looked at all the people over the years how common they were in terms of their characteristics and their tactics, what they did. and as i began to write this out and describe it, this book

started to write itself. and i could see, i have got to share this with people. i scrubbed the literature and i could see this was no where that i could find, not in the psychological literature, not in the sociological literature, no where had this really been described in a comprehensive way and i said i have got to do this. this was an urgent awareness that i need today share with people because you can identify these predators in our lives. >> oh, my goodness. i got to get a copy right away. it is called "life code" by dr. phil. now, today you have some teenagers on the show and they are pathlogical liars? >> well, listen, we get so much of these teenagers and "life code" -- by the way, before i finish about "life code," jc, this is in prerelease and the only place you can get this book is at the booknook.com. it will be in book stores for the first of the year, but for my viewers, you can get it at

the booknook.com right now. and i'm going to give a copy of this to the dad that is on today's show. he has got two daughters -- they live in the suburbs, he's a single dad raising two beautiful daughters, they're intelligence, they're articulate, they're gorgeous girls. he writes to me and says, dr. phil, these girls are telling me they're going to spend the night with friends, and i find out they're going to a strip club and dancing. they're going to a strip club and dancing. they get arrested in the parking lot. one of them is not even old enough to go inside, but she's in there stripping and gets arrested, and she is in the presence of a violent registered sex offender and doesn't even know it, and he is horrified. he says what in the world has gone wrong, what do i do. and i can't tell you the number of letters i get from parents that are asking just that kind of question. >> i can't wait until 4:00 comes. always exciting on your show. dr. phil begins at 4:00 right

here on wusa9. and then, of course, it's followed by 9 news now at 5:00 p.m. thank you, dr. phil. and now we have howard with the weekend forecast, very important. what is the forecast going to look like? >> actually, it looks pretty decent around here. >> good. >> we talked about a storm system possibly affecting us. that's going to go south and east. that's not really a concern. we're looking good actually right through thanksgiving here, so that's some good news. i know a lot of people travel this time of year, maybe some visitors coming to town, most of the country will be in good shape. our day planner this afternoon, we're seeing a good deal of sunshine now. still a few clouds on the eastern shore and temperatures going to climb to about 55 this afternoon, maybe low 50s in a few spots. but pretty comfortable with a north wind at five, 10 miles an hour. this evening temperatures drop off into the upper 40s by 7:00, mid-40s by 9:00. we'll be in the mid-30s in town by saturday morning and upper 20s in the cold spots. a couple of showers late last night, early this morning, southern maryland, less than .10 inch, but enough to make for some wet streets down there

for the morning rush. right now, though, we're fairly dry and fairly sunny. fredrick up to 52 along with culpepper. upper 40s in the shenandoah valley. we have a 49 in la plata and 47 in cambridge. and outside on our michael and son weather camera, bright sunshine here in northwest d.c., good looking afternoon with 51 degrees. i'm not sure why national is reporting mostly cloudy, but it's mostly sunny out there right now. north winds at 12 miles an hour. so there's just a hint of a breeze in a few spots and the humidity at 44%. now, nationally much of the country is in really nice shape from the central part of the country to the ohio and tennessee valley, but it's the west coast that's getting hammered here with a series of storms that will bring rain and snow and in the mountains of the pafic northwest between now and tuesday, there could be three, four, five feet of snow. so we're going to get rid of this little weak system and we'll turn out clear tonight and we're in pretty good shape for the weekend. want to show you the forecast across the country, though, for thanksgiving eve. some showers in the northwest, upper 40s to near 50. if you're flying maybe to the west coast, that looks good on wednesday. the southwest looks good on

wednesday, denver is a big hub, 61 and cloudy. chicago sunny and 53, a big hub. and what you're not seeing in most areas any precipitation. south texas may see some showers and storms, near 80. the deep south looks good, going through hartsfield will be fine. florida may have a couple of showers, orlando up to jacksonville and charleston. and as we head towards the northeast, even that's looking good, through detroit or pittsburgh or up to new york and boston, problems look few and far between on thanksgiving evil and that's a good thing -- thanksgiving eve and that's a good thing. tonight dipping into the 30s in town, 20s north and west. tomorrow and sunday look decent as well, maybe a little bit more sunshine tomorrow, 55, 54 on sunday, and then next week check it out, we're going to be looking at temperatures in the mid if not upper 50s and potentially over 60 by thanksgiving. we'll be back with more 9 news now at noon in just a moment.

we are back with c.c. williamson. she is an expert with the usda, and she's going to tell us how to really prepare great stuffing. i've been tasting it. it is so good. and how to stuff the turkey safely. so she's been sautis some onions and some celery, and you just added some -- >> some sage and thyme in here. >> oh, gosh, that smells good. >> but the most important part of the recipe is to use your food thermometer to make sure whether you do it in a casserole like this or you stuff it inside the bird that the stuffing reaches 165 because that's the temperature which you know that all the bacteria would be destroyed and it will be safe. >> so where do you put the thermometer if you have the stuffing inside the turkey? >> well, you need to put it in the center of the stuffing and keep cooking the turkey until the stuffing gets to a safe temperature. >> oh, see, i thought you just put this thermometer in the turkey to make sure the turkey is done. >> you can do that too, wu you have to keep -- but you have to

keep cooking that turkey until the stuffing is the right temperature. so usually you overcook the turkey by that time, so that's why i like to do it in a casserole. >> and i've tasted it. it's nice and moist. why is it so moist? >> it has chicken stock in it, it has butter and all the vegetables and things. >> what else do you do? onions, the celery, the thyme. >> i put sausage in mine, but you can put mush rooms, chestnuts, cranberries, fruit, anything you like. but one thing the usda does not recommend stuffing a turkey to be microwaved because the microwave cooks a turkey so fast that the stuffing doesn't have enough time to get hot. >> i didn't even know you could microwave a turkey. my goodness. >> if you're using an oven cooking bag, it's okay to stuff it. just don't do what one of the women did and wrap the turkey in a dry cleaning bag. >> she wrapped it in a what? >> a dry cleaner's bag. she didn't have an oven cooking

bag, so she puts a dry cleaner's bag all over the turkey and put it in the oven. what do you think would happen? >> i know you're not making this up, but you could write a book about some of the things that you know. >> we've heard it all. the hotline has been here 26 years and the reason we're here is because our agency has a public health mission to keep people from getting food-borne illness so we hope that you'll call us. >> what's the phone number? >> it's 888-mp-hotline and we open you'll call us from 10:00 to 4:00 all year round. we're even there on thanksgiving day from 8:00 to 2:00. >> the number again is 888-mp- hotline and they'll answer all the questions. have you heard anything so incredible, howard, that she was talking about someone wrapping the turkey in a plastic bag from the cleaners. >> no it. i get the oven bag. >> that's the one you're supposed to use. this woman didn't have one, and so she did that. >> improvised. >> another woman said that the

bag wasn't big enough and i kept talking to her. and she said, well, the pan won't fit in it. i think you know that you put the turkey in the bag and the bag in the pan, instead of the turkey in the bag and the bag in the pan. >> you have to write all this stuff on a pamphlet about what not to do. >> i would love to have a glass of champagne and talk to you. happy thanksgiving. >> happy thanksgiving. >> thank you for coming. come back and visit us at 5:00. have a great weekend. >> bye bye.